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| I'm not sure where a suitable place to discuss general things that aren't specific to a particular article might be, so I'll just write something here for now. I just wanted to say that I plan to use the extra material released for the CIC's birthday to upload some nicer images from WC3, if they happen to be better quality than the digital PC video (still in the process of downloading, servers are understandably burdened immediately after the party). Hopefully, they're not too blurry or fuzzy or heavily compressed. I just wanted to let everyone know in case someone else thought to do the same, to avoid duplication of effort. - Wedge | | I'm not sure where a suitable place to discuss general things that aren't specific to a particular article might be, so I'll just write something here for now. I just wanted to say that I plan to use the extra material released for the CIC's birthday to upload some nicer images from WC3, if they happen to be better quality than the digital PC video (still in the process of downloading, servers are understandably burdened immediately after the party). Hopefully, they're not too blurry or fuzzy or heavily compressed. I just wanted to let everyone know in case someone else thought to do the same, to avoid duplication of effort. - Wedge |
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| (WAR WARNING FOR DUND)
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| FOR YOUR EYES ONLY COPY ONE OF ONE
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| TO: COM7FLT MCAULIFFE--BASE
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| ALEDANDRIA
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| FROM: CICCONFEDFLT
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| This communication is strictly off the record and should be destroyed after reading. I shall retain a copy in my personal files in case, at some future date, questions are raised as to your actions.
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| Consider this letter to be an official warning of attack directed, and I repeat, directed only from my office. I discussed my concerns this morning with the president, and for reasons of state he refused to make an official statement from the Confederation Government to this effect. I am therefore taking it upon myself to do so personally. Unfortunately, this memo cannot be sent by burst transmission due to security concerns, therefore it must take the slow route of arriving by official courier.
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| Upon receipt of this memo I am directing you to disperse Seventh Fleet from McAuliffe into the next system inward without delay. Ships will rotate back to McAuliffe and orbital base Alexandria only for essential repairs. This is to be done under the guise of maneuvers and this procedure shall be maintained until you receive orders to the contrary.
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| All leaves are to be canceled, all ships are to depart from port with full load of armaments and to maintain a class two level of readiness. If any ship of the fleet is approached by an unidentified vessel they are to shoot first and ask questions later. That order is to apply especially to our picket ships guarding the approach from the old demilitarized zone.
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| I am not operating on any hard evidence. Call it instinct, that I smell a storm on the horizon. More then anything else, I wish we could send a forward picket line deeper into Kilrathi territory, but to even suggest such a provocative action against the Kilrathi, other than in the Facin Sector would mean my dismissal from the service along with the cashiering of any officer who complied with such an order.
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| I also request that Commander Winston Turner should appear within your area of control, any mesages he might have for me should be given the highest priority.
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| This message should arrive the day before Confederation DAy leaves begin. I am sorry to ruin the holiday for you and your personnel, but for the good of the Confederation I deem it to be essential.
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| Banbridge--CICCONFEDFLT
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| (-JasonRyock)
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| (War Deceleration from AS)
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| CONFEDERATION NEW NETWORK
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| DATELINE: OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
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| OF THE CONFEDERATION
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| DATE: 2634.186
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| This evening at 6:00 P.M. GMT Earth, the PResident announced that a state of war now exists between the Confederation at the Kilrathi Empire. Elements of Task Force Twenty-tree have crossed into Kilrathi territory in the Facin Sector on a punitive expedition against supposed centers from which Kirlathi raids had been launched into Confederation territory.
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| When asked about the scope of the war the President declared that the war is limited ins cope and that it is not the intention of the Confederation to seek what he called "a battle of annihilation which can only serve to destroy both sides." When asked to clarify this point, the President state that it is believed that the attacks along our were not necessarily actions directed by the Emperor but rather might very well be the activities of rival clan or family leaders seeking to provoke a general war. Our actions, therefore, will be directed solely against those sectors from which verified attacks have previously been launched. Due to the limited nature of this conflict the President made it clear that he does not wish to bring about a general war and has conveyed such sentiments to the Emperor in an open message on a frequency known to be monitored by the Kilrathi. He closed by declaring that the war can be ended at any time when the Kilrathi make a clear effort to bring these provocative factions under control.
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| In other news, Aju Akbar won the Confederation heavyweight championship in three rounds...
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| (Post War Analysis - AS Page 342-344)
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| TO: INTELCONFEDFELT
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| FROM: CICCONFEDFLT
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| Received your report of yesterday and will forward appropriate sections to commanders, Task Forces Three, Nineteen and Forty-Two. Jim, I agree fully with your analysis. We are lucky. The disaster at McAuliffe was indeed the worst known in the long history of the Fleet. One can look back to the China Sea, Pearl Harbor, Tsushima, Salamis, and not find a defeat so lopsided. Yet rarely in history has a combatant thrown away such a stunning victory and walked away from the spoils. I don't think we'll ever really know why they abandoned McAuliffe and let us hang onto it. My gut instancing is that Turner's insane counterattack scared the crap out of them. The casualties he inflicted on their landing force most likely struck a nerve with their Emperor and triggered the withdrawal.
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| In spite of the disaster at McAuliffe, it has stirred us and united us in a way that the Kilrathi little dreamed of. To them the Jak-tu, the blow upon a superior and unsuspecting prey, is both the attack and climax in the same instant, the blow that kills and then the feast thereafter. For us it was an outrage that demands revenge.
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| It has been thirty days since the beginning of the war. Yes, we have lost a hundred and fifty-three systems, thirty percent of our industrial capacity, nearly forty percent of key strategic resources and the shocking number of twenty-eight billion citizens who are now behind enemy lines and condemned to slavery or death. And yet we have not given in.
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| The prognosis for the short term is terrifying. Seventy percent of the fleet is gone. The loss of Concordia in the closing minutes of the fight was a painful blow. She was a proud ship and I hope someday we'll pass her name on to a new ship. Ware now down to three carriers in active service, with Ark Royal arriving back at Earth later today for what is expected to be a six-month overhaul.
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| I must now urge you, Jim, to press forward. Our enemy is still an enigma to us, as we are to him. We must, therefore, learn who he is, and in the process learn his weaknesses and how to exploit them. We already have learned much in the technical sense. Within three months we shall be turning out copies of their torpedoes, and the crash program to bring the new Corsair fighter on-line is rapidly moving ahead. Above all else though, we must learn where they will strike next.
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| There can never be another McAuliffe. For that matter, any form of defeat in the next campaign will spell our doom. In the next fight we must win an overwhelming victory or die. I am counting on you, Jim, to find out where the next blow will come so that we might be ready. A significant enough victory and we can yet turn the tide of war.
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| Banbridge CICCONFEDFLT
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